A Bad Dream?
by Animangod
Summary: Kurogane gets injured, that leads to his death. Or does he?


Kurogane and Fai were no strangers to battlefields. That's why when a village was under attack, all they needed was brief eye contact to know what the other needed to do. Fai had the strength to attack but his strength was needed to protect the people and help the villagers, He had never learned how to use healing magic - magic designed to heal others - but he had learned how to use considered offensive and neutral magic to do protective and healing traits just as well. Kurogane was using Ginryuu to take care of the threat.

It went from an easily manageable threat to one that Kurogane saw a very familiar blue spark, letting out a single curse, dodging the first of the blows.

Concerned blue eyes shot up at the sound of hollering over battle. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE?" Fai pinpointed the cause of the yelling. It looked like a child had wandered between Kurogane and the demon, although from its lack of response, the child might have had trouble hearing.

Words were lost on the ninja as he tried getting to the kid before the demon could, rushing and getting between the two, telling the kid to run to safety. only to get the demons claws embedded in his arm as he used it as a shield. Kurogane grit his teeth as he swung Ginryuu at the foe slashing off its foot.

It took Kurogane using Hama Ryuuoujin to annihilate the enemy, but not without serious injury. And the worst was the bit he failed to take into account. He was able to walk off the battlefield, and the villagers were all sparedserious injury, even the young child, but the damage he had sustained in his metal arm slowly poisoned him. It was subtle, and he originally thought his dimension hopping and age was finally - slowly - starting to get to him, and by the time he could get around to checking out the problem in Piffle, it was already too late.

Blur forward, and even after the arm was removed, swapped for a new, undamaged one, the poisoning was not something Piffle had yet the technology, research or treatment to fix since magical demons were not a thing there. And the next word is initially foreign: Kurogane's condition was terminal. Neither ever expected to hear that, especially that the cause was the gift from Fai and that protecting people lead to it. It was not expected, and yet Kurogane dealt with learning of his imminent death the best. "Guess I'm not going to die protecting my princess at this rate." was the first thing that popped out of his mouth.

It was a blur turn as Fai turned to look at Kurogane who was lying in a hospital bed, after a battery of tests. For science, they said. Science is what got them here, Fai thought to himself, Science, the magic with wishes, and that familiar sensation that it was his fault, that the people around him always suffer because of him. The ninja must have seen it, the look of self-blame, because he reached out and grabbed a sleeve, tugging on it. "Hey," he spoke staring over to meet Fai's eyes.

"I'm scared," Fai admitted, not willing to lie to Kurogane, not now.

Kurogane was willing to accept that honesty and tugged him closer. "Promise me something?"

"What is it?"

"You promise?"

"Not if it's eat lots of sushi or …" Fai said trying to keep this talk light.

"It's not. Now promise me."

"Fine I promise. So what did I just promise?"

"To live."

A choked noise. "Until then, live, right?"

"It doesn't mean being happy every day, and it doesn't mean to be in perpetual denial, either; fill it with the things that make you happy. If you start to feel sad, and want to cry, that's okay too. Just live your life and not go looking for death. Death'll come for you when it's good and ready to take you to the next life. Until then, make what you want of your life out of the time you still have. That's all. If I have to leave this world, to do it with no regrets."

"Right. No regrets. I really wish there was some way I could help you, but " Fai murmured, tiny tears forming in his eyes, and dripping down his face

"Tell you what… " Kurogane began, wiping away some of those tears and whispered the rest for Fai to hear. He summoned Ginryuu out, and handed it over, not long before there was that incessant beep on the heart monitor, and a nurse that mightily resembled Chii came in, and had to pronounce Kurogane dead.

Fai jolted up in the bed and called out Kurogane's name, stirring the body beside him. "What's wrong?" came the familiar voice, and Fai turned to the ninja before burying his face in his chest, clutching him close. Kurogane sensed something was wrong and had a concerned look on his face, but didn't continue to pry for now as he gently wove fingers into Fai's hair before gently coming to rest on the back of his head.

Kurogane was quiet and let Fai have the time he needed before speaking up, "Bad dream?"

There was a shuffle and a small nodding into his chest. "I dreamt you died …because of me, because I couldn't …"

"That's ridiculous," Kurogane cut Fai off, "it ain't your fault." His hand gently pet Fai, like one pets a cat, starting from the head and rolling down the back before returning again. "It's not your fault."

Fai made a bitter laugh, even as tears ran down his cheeks, and Kurogane continued to pet and console Fai, quietly murmuring things into his ear. He wrapped his other arm around and pulled him closer, adjusting so that he was on his back, and Fai could lay on his stomach like he prefered, on his stomach and gently soothed him. It took a while of consoling, of that warm presence, and that beating heart, to finally lull Fai back into a light sleep.

The sound of birds chirping near the window stirred Fai from his dream. After all, Kurogane had been dead for years; there were tear stains in his pillow. Wiping away the remnants of sleep and tears, Fai got out of bed, making it neat as ever, before getting dressed and facing yet another day. Where Kurogane would have slept there was that manga he had kept on his person at the time, laying there in his place and Ginryuu beside it. Later on, he promised to visit the graves, to pay his respects to where Kurogane had been laid to rest, right beside his mother. A third grave was already plotted, next to the ninja, but it would be a very long time before Fai filled it.


End file.
